AP Ezreal: Magical Bow Means Magical Build

Ezreal Build

Table of Contents

Introduction

Howdy!

Let's cut right to the chase: why AP over AD Ezreal?

When I first started playing Ezreal I knew that he was quickly going to become my favorite character. Something about every skill being a skill-shot really appealed to my play style, and when I saw the Haruhi Suzumiya dance I knew it was fate that brought us together (no homo). I scoured Leaguecraft for the one guide to rule them all; the guide that would take me, a first-time magic bowman, and turn me into a spikey haired bow-gauntlet wielding god of destruction. And I thought I found it with an AD guide.

For the longest of times I played AD Ezreal, and I really enjoyed it. But as time progressed I began to notice a pattern with AD Ezreal:

Beginning Game: Awesome. Great harassment. You can Zone the shit out of just about anyone with 1 skill.

Mid Game: Average-Good, depending on your early game.

Late Game: You're basically forced to convert to an Auto-Attack style of play (Infinity Edge, Madred's, etc.) Your mystic shot will hurt, especially with Trinity Force, but the damage is pitiful in comparison to characters like Vayne, Nasus, Poppy, etc. The reason using Ezreal's auto attack is bad is because of his attack range and his natural squshy-ness. If you walk within autoattack range of any team all they have to do is look at you funny. You then proceed to fertilize the fields of justice with your corpse.

Long story short? Your damage with AD Ezreal seems to ween down as you get into late game. Beginning and mid game? Perfectly viable. But I felt like even though I raped everything early game (and I usually did) my contribution to the team's damage around minutes 35+ felt sub-par. So I decided to try out an AP build.

And boy was I surprised. Farming and general early game damage were a little under the AD build, but mid mid/late game DPS was astounding. I could hit entire teams with one Essence Flux and knock off 500+ damage to each of them. Mystic shot was still hitting like a truck because of the Lich Bane, and his ult hit so hard that it was easily the deciding factor in many team fights.

And one beautiful day I got a Penta with AP Ez. That about sealed it for me.

Abilities

Not a huge factor in your damage output until mid game, but with AP Ez the cooldown reduction is amazing. With this, Essence Flux and Arcane Shift become spam-able and your ult is damn near ALWAYS off cooldown.

Used mostly for mobility, but this actually ends up being your hardest-hitting single-target spell. It's a little difficult to hit with, but with enough practice you'll have no problem blasting someone with it. I often use this offensively in sync with Essence Flux.

This spell is the reason AP Ezreal is invaluable in team fights. The AP scaling is wonderful, and late game this spell can hit for well over 1000 dmg. Everything but tanks will be shaking in their boots after they get hit with this. Earlier in the game it's a great finisher and syncs well with Clairvoyance.

Masteries + Runes

I usually go 9-0-21 with AP Ez. The point of this set-up is to get as much CDR and Mana Regen as possible. I also prefer CV and Exhaust with Ezreal, so I like to grab those masteries as well.

Summoner Spells

I prefer to take: Clairvoyance - Makes picking off low health enemies easier, and helps to prevent ganks. Exhaust - Shuts down and champion. Useful for both offense and defense.

Other Options: Ignite - Great finisher, but because of Ezreal's ult I don't usually take it Teleport - Ezreal is naturally slow, so this makes getting back into lane easier Flash - Double flash is pretty funny, but I find it unnecessary usually Clarity - I went on a mission to make it so I could play Ezreal without it. But if you can't, by all means grab it. Ghost - Arcane Shift has a pretty long cooldown, so this is a great spell for mobility. Cleanse - Ezreal is squishy and CC is devastating to him, so this is a good spell as well.

No-no's
[spell=Fortify] - This is for tanks and supports only IMO Heal - There are better spells to take. Smite - Ezreal is a poor jungler
[spell=Rally] - Not a good spell in general. Just take something else. Revive - If you even consider this, you should just uninstall now.

Skilling Order

With AP Ezreal you want to prioritize Essence Flux, it is your main source of damage. Arcane Shift comes next. The One-two punch of Essence Flux and Arcane Shift dishes out a devastating amount of damage to a single target. Mystic Shot comes last because it's only useful for reducing cooldowns until you get the Lich Bane. Make sure you put at least one point in it before lvl 6 though.

Items

Core Build
These are the items that you will shoot for early. I will explain the point of each of them below.
[builder=Ezreal/e333f9bbfe937e2cb29ff56e135f26d2]

To start off, grab a Doran's Ring. This is a great item to start off with because it makes you a little beefier, adds some damage, and the mana regen lets you stay in lane longer. With the mana regen runes and masteries, I start off with about 24 MRp5. That's almost 5 mana per second, which is more than enough to keep you in lane long enough to wreak some havok.

On your next trip back grab Boots of Speed and a [item=Meki Pendant] if you can. This build does not focus around any major mana-pool-increasing items, instead we focus on regen. Also grab some Health Potions if you can.

But wait master! If the cooldowns of Essence Flux and Arcane Shift are so high, why not get the Ionian Boots of Lucidity?! Well, grasshopper, your damage output increases considerably with the Sorcerer's Shoes. Magic penetration is very important, and not very many items provide it. To take care of the cooldown problem, read on.

Next you will upgrade your pendant into the Fiendish Codex, and eventually you will upgrade THAT into [item=Morello's Evil Tome]. This item is indescribably good for AP Ezreal. The Mana Regen it provides keeps you in lane forever (you'll be around 40+ MRp5), it gives a great amount of AP for damage, and (the real reason we get it) the Cooldown Reduction brings him up to about 30% cooldown reduction with the cooldown Masteries. I used to get the Lucidity boots without getting Morello's, but I found that this route is superior for your damage output.

Now you're hitting like a truck, having a good time, but you have this spell called Mystic Shot that is not really doing much but reducing cooldowns. Well fret not little one, there is a wonderful item called the Lich Bane that can solve this problem for you. Start off by building the Sheen and upgrade it as soon as you can. The Lich Bane is the only item in the core build that will give you a larger mana pool.

Next you will shoot for Rabadon's Deathcap, as all caster-types should. If you can get this done, teams will bow to your will.

Play Style: Getting to Mid Game Alive

AP Ezreal is, for lack of a better word, a mana WHORE. I highly recommend mana regen runes above all others if you wanna maximize your damage output (you will avoid having to buy many mana items).

Early Game
Best case scenario is that you have the regen runes and masteries so you're sitting at 20-24 MRp5 after buying the Doran's Ring. If you don't have runes then you will be sitting at 15-20 MRp5, which is completely fine. You will just have to be a bit more sparing with your harassment.

Now I play Ezreal in mid lane exclusively, so keep in mind that in mind. I do not like to lane top or bot with Ezreal, I feel like that you a throwing away too much potential by not soloing. But that's not to say that these tips won't be useful for a laning Ezreal.

Taking Essence Flux first and prioritizing that will give you a considerable amount of lane presence if you can harass well with it. It's a bit easier to hit with Essence Flux than it is with Mystic Shot because Essence Flux goes through creep waves. But Essence Flux uses quite a bit of mana, so use it sparingly (take note of your mana regen and use it accordingly). Only fire away when you're confident in your ability to land a hit with it.

Try to build up a lot of lane presence through harassment and force your enemy away from the creep waves as much as possible. The easy way to do this is to only last-hit creeps (let them duke it out and shoot one when its about to die) and fire an Essence Flux into the face of any enemy that tries to some close enough to farm. This is called "Zoning" for those who don't know.

If you're feeling confident you can also try to harass with Arcane Shift, immediately firing an Essence Flux as a follow up. This one-two punch combo can dish out a LOT of damage. The easiest way to hit with Arcane Shift is to first Zone your enemy back away from the creeps. Then, in between creep waves when there is nothing between you and your enemy, flash in with Arcane Shift and blast them with an Essence Flux. You can usually hit them and still avoid getting into turret range. Keep in mind that this will leave you behind their creep wave, and a few caster minions can hurt like hell.

If you want to be more aggressive you can use Mystic Shot to keep your cooldowns low and dish out more harassment faster. Be very careful with this because it's an easy way to blow all of your mana fast. The point of a regen-based build is to harass with rhythm: keeping your mana at a good level while still dishing out good damage consistently. Playing smartly will allow you to build more items and, as a result, harass harder and faster.

Once you hit 6 it's party time.

Try to harass your enemy down to a point where one combo will put their health low enough for your Trueshot Barrage to finish them. You will need to play Ezreal a few times to get a feel for how much your ult will do. I like to take Clairvoyance with Ezreal so I can see my lane-enemy behind their turret of they're trying to blue-pill back, or to pick off lucky survivors in other lanes. Keep in mind that your ult does reduced damage for every enemy it hits, down to a minimum of 30% damage, so try to line up a shot that won't fly through a creep wave or something.

Mystic Shot will not become a major offensive component until you get the Lich Bane, which should happen around mid game depending on how well you do. You can try to harass with it for extra damage before then, but it's really only a cooldown-reducing machine until you get the Lich Bane (or at least a Sheen).

During the late game team fights I like to switch Trueshot Barrage from a finishing-spell to a team-wiping truck. At this point in the game it will hit VERY hard, so use it after the initiation of a team brawl and try to hit as many enemies as possible. If you've been doing well, this will significantly shift the fight into your favor, as well as guarantee a few kills/assists for you. AP Ezreal is all about AOE, so he definitely shines in team fights.

I hope you guys will enjoy playing Ezreal as much as I do. Now go grasshoppers! Decimate teams with your flamboyant, magic bow-using might!